Midwestern icon: Bill Kurtis balances TV work with raising cattle

Thursday

Apr 21, 2011 at 12:01 AMApr 21, 2011 at 8:20 PM

As the face and voice on such cable TV shows as “Cold Case Files,” “Investigating History” and “American Justice,” Bill Kurtis is a well-recognized figure. But Kurtis has also become heavily involved in producing grass-fed beef in his native state of Kansas on his 8,000-acre ranch since 1995.

Steve Tarter

As the face and voice on such cable TV shows as “Cold Case Files,” “Investigating History” and “American Justice,” Bill Kurtis is a well-recognized figure.

TV viewers might also recall him as a former anchor on the CBS Morning News. More recently, Kurtis appeared in a series of AT&T commercials last year in which he “beat” various sports stars in staged races promoting fast connections to the Internet.

While continuing with his cable TV work, Kurtis has taken on another beat. He’s become heavily involved in producing grass-fed beef in his native state of Kansas on his 8,000-acre ranch since 1995.

Here’s a profile of the rancher/media star.

Media career

Kurtis started as an anchor on a TV station in Topeka, Kan. In 1966, he moved to Chicago, where he served as a reporter and then anchor for WBBM-TV, which was the city’s top-rated TV news station. He anchored the CBS Morning News in New York from 1982 to 1985. After his stint in New York, he returned to Chicago and WBBM, where he worked until 1996. He started his own production company, Kurtis Productions, that has developed various cable programs on the A&E Network and History channel for the past 20 years.

Ranching

After buying the Red Buffalo Ranch (http://www.kansastravel.org/redbuffaloranch.htm) in 1995 in Sedan, near his native Independence in southern Kansas, Kurtis bought and restored buildings in little Sedan, Kan., population 1,100. His company, Tallgrass Beef Co., raises about 3,000 cattle on the ranch. “We believe our grass-fed beef is healthier, tastier, more environmentally responsible and more humanely raised than any grass-fed beef available anywhere,” notes Kurtis on his website, www.tallgrassbeef.com. You can order the beef online or find out the groceries and restaurants that carry the premium meat products.

‘Little House’

Kurtis and his sister, Kansas state Sen. Jean Schodorf, also own the “Little House on the Prairie” site (near Independence), where “Little House” author Laura Ingalls Wilder lived briefly as a child (before the family moved to Minnesota). A replica of the Ingalls’ family cabin stands on the site. Prairie Days Festival, held annually in June, celebrates Wilder’s famous series.

Early days

The son of a Marine general, Kurtis was raised in Independence, Kan. He graduated from the University of Kansas with a degree in journalism in 1962. Despite graduating from Washburn University School of Law and passing the Kansas bar examination, Kurtis chose a career in journalism.